The favorable clinical and angiographic outcomes of a high-dose dexamethasone-eluting stent: randomized controlled prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies with dexamethasone-eluting stents could not elucidate the role of dexamethasone in the prevention of neointimal hyperplasia because they did not compare their results with a control group. We prospectively evaluated the clinical and angiographic outcomes of dexamethasone-eluting stents, comparing them with unloaded stents of an identical design. METHODS: A total of 92 patients (98 lesions) were randomly assigned to the dexamethasone group (67 patients, 71 lesions) or control group (25 patients, 27 lesions). The inclusion criteria for a stent implantation were a de novo lesion with a diameter of 2.60 to 4.0 mm. BiodivYsio Drug Delivery phosphorylcholine-coated stents (Biocompatibles Ltd, Galway, Ireland) were immersed in a 20-mg/mL dexamethasone solution, yielding a total dexamethasone dose of 0.5 microg/mm2 per stent. RESULTS: The total major adverse cardiac events rate at 12 months was significantly lower in the dexamethasone group, as compared with the control group (10.4% [7/67] vs 28.0% [7/25], P = .037). The binary restenosis rate at 6 months was 11.9% (7/59) in the dexamethasone group and 42.9% (9/21) in the control group (P = .002). The use of dexamethasone-eluting stents was the only independent predictor for the major adverse cardiac event at 12 months (relative risk 0.20, 95% CI 0.06-0.68, P = .009) and binary restenosis at 6 months (relative risk 0.17, 95% CI 0.05-0.60, P = .006) by multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Dexamethasone-eluting stents exhibited an improvement in the clinical and angiographic outcomes, as compared with the control stents. These results suggest that dexamethasone may play an important role in the inhibition of the polymer-induced inflammation in the era of drug-eluting stents.

Unstable angina complicated by vasospasm and intracoronary thrombus and no evidence of plaque rupture.

A 57-year-old man came to the emergency room because of abrupt chest pain for 30min. ST elevations in inferior lead were normalized following sublingual nitroglycerin. He performed an exercise test on Bruce protocol and exercised up to 12min (13 METs) without chest pain and ST-T changes on the next day. We performed coronary angiography to rule out coronary vasospasm; however, we did not perform provocation test due to thombus in the culprit lesion. After medical treatment for 6days, follow-up coronary angiogram revealed no thrombus in the previous site and intravascular ultrasound did not demonstrate plaque rupture. We concluded that prolonged spasm might cause prolonged coronary flow limitation and induce acute thrombus formation without plaque rupture. This finding may be an important pathogenesis of acute coronary syndrome in patients with variant angina.

Diffuse three-vessel coronary artery spasm.

A 50-year-old woman came to the hospital because of chest pain, mostly occurring in the early morning at rest. She performed an exercise test on Bruce protocol and exercised up to 11 min (13 METs) without chest pain. Following ergonovine provocation test, diffuse three-vessel coronary artery spasm was identified.

Echocardiographic assessments of left atrial strain and volume in healthy patients and patients with mitral valvular heart disease by tissue Doppler imaging and 3-dimensional echocardiography.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the current study was to assess left atrial (LA) physiology in relation to associations between LA volume change and regional tissue velocities and strains, and to extend this information to patients with mitral stenosis (MS) or mitral regurgitation (MR). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twenty-two healthy persons, 22 patients with moderate-to-severe MS, and 22 patients with moderate-to-severe MR were studied. Tissue velocities, strains, and time-volume curves of the LA were acquired using tissue Doppler imaging and 3-dimensional echocardiography. RESULTS: In healthy controls, the maximal LA volume was negatively correlated with the posterior wall longitudinal systolic strain (r=-0.45, p=0.03). The time-to-maximal LA volume was positively correlated with the time-to-posterior wall longitudinal peak strain (r=0.46, p=0.03) and the time-to-circumferential peak strain (r=0.59, p=0.004). The LA active emptying fraction (LAactEF) was positively correlated with the posterior wall longitudinal peak systolic and late diastolic tissue velocities. In patients with MS, the maximal LA volume was negatively correlated with the posterior wall radial peak systolic velocity and the longitudinal late diastolic velocity. In patients with MS, the LAactEF had an additional positive correlation with the anterior wall longitudinal and circumferential systolic velocities, whereas the patients with MR had an additional positive correlation between the LAactEF and the lateral wall longitudinal peak strain as compared with the healthy cantrols. CONCLUSION: LA longitudinal and circumferential deformations are more related than radial deformation to determining LA volume and function. The LA of patients with MS revealed a greater pathologic physiology than those of patients with MR.

Progression of dissection due to residual dissection after intracoronary stenting for spontaneous coronary dissection at bifurcation site of LAD and diagonal artery.

A 34-year old male patient visited our hospital due to severe chest pain. Initial ECG showed ST elevation at precordial leads and all cardiac enzymes were markedly elevated. Coronary angiography showed a long, longitudinal coronary dissection with dissected flap extending from the proximal LAD to the mid segment of the vessel and proximal diagonal artery. IVUS showed dissected flap and false lumen communicating with true lumen from proximal to mid-LAD. We implanted two paclitaxel-eluting stents using crushing technique at bifurcation lesion and overlapped another paclitaxel-eluting stent at proximal LAD for full coverage of dissection. Final angiography showed good distal flow. However, despite of maximal pressure of post stent ballooning, a residual dissection was noted at proximal LAD. IVUS examination also showed encircling gap that was noted between stent and vessel wall at proximal LAD stent area. Because distal flow was good and there was no ischemic symptom and sign, the patient was discharged. Six months later from index procedure, routine follow-up angiography and IVUS examination were performed and revealed more progressed previous residual coronary dissection at proximal LAD which was extended to bifurcation site. Our case showed, although intracoronary stenting might be an attractive approach by closure of the inlet and the false lumen, complete resolution of dissection by stenting is very important for long-term prognosis.

Angiographic and intravascular ultrasound study of the effects of overlapping sirolimus- and paclitaxel-eluting stents: comparison with same drug-eluting overlapping stents.

BACKGROUND: Although complete coverage of diffuse long coronary lesions has warranted the use of overlapping drug-eluting stents (DESs), the effect of stent overlap with different DESs on the neointimal hyperplasia and whether it would result in dose-related side effects are unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty-seven consecutive patients, from June 2003 to August 2004, underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with 2 of the same or different overlapping DESs for diffuse long lesions. Out of the total of 47 patients, a nine-month angiographic examination and IVUS were performed in 40 (85.1%) patients. Of the 47 overlapping DESs utilized, 14 were overlapped using sirolimus- and paclitaxel-eluting stents (S-P group), 13 using two sirolimus-eluting stents (S-S group) and 20 using two paclitaxel-eluting stents (P-P group). In the follow-up, there was no difference between the three groups in the late loss or area of neointimal hyperplasia. All restenoses were noted at non-overlapping sites (2 at the proximal edge of the proximal stent, and 3 at the distal in-stent). There were no stent thromboses documented or aneurysmal formations at the overlapping site in any of the three groups. One late stent malapposition was observed not at an overlapping site, but in the distal single stent area. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, compared with using the same overlapping DESs, PCI with different overlapping DESs exhibited similar effects on the suppression of neointimal hyperplasia and did not increase the side effects of the DES.

Effect of preinterventional arterial remodeling on intimal hyperplasia after implantation of a polymer-based paclitaxel-eluting stent: angiographic and IVUS study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of preinterventional arterial remodeling on in-stent intimal hyperplasia (IH) after the implantation of a polymer-based paclitaxel-eluting stent. METHODS: The study population consisted of 55 patients (61 lesions) with a de novo lesion treated with a paclitaxel-eluting stent. The lesions were divided into two groups, positive or intermediate (PR/IR), and negative remodeling (NR) groups, according to the preinterventional arterial remodeling. Angiographic and IVUS examinations were performed preintervention, postintervention and at 9 months of follow-up. RESULTS: The remodeling index (RI) was 1.19+/-0.16 in the PR/IR group and 0.81+/-0.10 in the NR group. At follow-up, the late loss was significantly larger in the PR/IR group than in the IR group. (0.65+/-0.58 mm vs. 0.29+/-0.5 mm, p=0.017). The external elastic membrane cross-sectional area (CSA) (18.68+/-5.39 vs. 12.87+/-3.72 mm(2), p=0.000), plaque CSA (16.99+/-4.04 vs. 10.34+/-3.45 Mm(2), p=0.000) and plaque index (85.84+/-5.02 vs. 81.80+/-7.26%, p=0.048) during the preintervention period and IH volume during the follow-up were significantly larger in the PR/IR group than in the NR group (17.98+/-16.7 mm(3) vs. 4.59+/-12.4 mm(3); p<0.001). Further, the percentage of the change in the IH was also larger in the PR/IR group than in the NR group (13.49+/-11.78% vs. 4.12+/-10.76%; p=0.002). A significant positive correlation was found between the preinterventional RI and follow-up IH CSA (r=0.406, p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The preinterventional arterial remodeling influenced the development of the IH after the implantation of the polymer-based paclitaxel-eluting stent which had a greater effect on reducing the IH accumulation in the lesions with preinterventional negative remodeling characteristics.